Green, like in John Frala

John Frala's desk is covered in stacks of papers, books, and notes.

Off to the side is a smaller table holding the research that didn't fit on the first desk.

Frala is an automotive professor here and was recently awarded the Outstanding Instructor Award for green technology by the California Community College Summit and is the first with an automotive background to win the award.

Not only does he teach his students all the skills that they need in order to succeed in their careers, but in life as well.

Two years ago Frala began growing algae in his classroom and used it as fuel. He's accomplished a lot in his four decades as a green technology aficionado.

He's currently working on writing The First Responder on electric vehicles used by the fire tech academy on how to respond to the technology and will most likely go on to be used by others in the industry, showing that he's making his mark.

Q: How did your interest in automotives and green technology start?

A: I have over 40 years experience in green technology. I worked at GM for a long time and worked on electric cars and trucks with them. When Raytheon took over they began laying people off, so I went back to school, came here on a friends suggestion, and have been here ever since.

Q: How has the program grown since you started working here?

A: They didn't have alternative fuel when I got here for over 12 years we've been building the program little by little. In 2004 we got outstanding in state by the California state college system and this year they gave me the outstanding instructor award for green technology, so we're taking steps, we're getting there, we have a lot more to go still. We're shooting to have the first battery electric vehicle technician's degree next year, to have an actual degree for mechanics to work on hybrid cars, be the first one in state. So that's what I'm working on right now.

Q: What did you major in?

A: I majored in television studio production. I was an on air field reporter and I covered the local high school and college sports teams. So I have a degree in TV studio production, I've always worked on cars, I have a degree from GM, I have two masters one in adult education and one in online education so we have one of the few online classes here for technicians in electronics, not many colleges have that. It's something we helped develop and build and we do two classes each semester.

Q: What's required for the class?

A: It's a general automotive class so we do a lot of math so we ask for a math background if they don't we have classes that can help them with that. Math is a very big part of my business and most people don't understand that coming in. We do basic addition subtractions there's a lot of physics in what we do. There's a lot of science behind it, students come in with a lot more knowledge than they think they're going to get. 

Q: When did you start I started growing the algae?

A: I started growing the algae two years ago, the kind I used was Trismus Chewy Algae, I added baking soda to it, pressed it, and then oil came out. I grew it in the classroom, my dean was on board, our dean doesn't really limit us on what we can do. I love my job, I love coming in to work, It's fun.